At The End of The World
by Alice Go Home
Summary: "It was true that Jazmine Becket had lost nearly everything dear to her. But the days she'd spent with him- they were her treasured memories. That was something that no one could ever rob her of." EPILOGUE piece to "Illusion of Home". Chuck x Jazmine. AU-ish, sorta.


**Author's Note**: _Takes place after the events of "Illusion of Home". Please read that first if you haven't already- otherwise this isn't going to make a whole lot of sense.. Or, if you'd like the full effect, please start before that with "Symbiosis"._

_Again, kind of AUish. Please R&R. :)_

* * *

**At The End of The World**

_**0 1 / 1 2 / 2 0 2 5**_

_Red_.

It was the only thing Chuck Hansen could see.

Water had started flooding into the Connpod freely now, and outside, within the frigid black depths of the Pacific Ocean, two Kaiju were rapidly converging upon Striker. Chuck wished he could retain some sort of hope- like most people tried to do in dire situations. But he would have only been kidding himself. Most of their systems were offline, the AKM launchers were jammed, and Gipsy was too far away.

There was no escape.

He could hear Pentecost to his right, who already seemed to realize and accept the gravity of the situation. He'd been yelling something over the comm system, and in a way that Chuck had never quite heard the other man speak before. It'd been difficult to make out though.. The sound of water meeting machinery along with the Jaeger's various system failure alarms had drowned nearly everything else out with ease.

Stacker's gaze snapped over the Australian boy, and Chuck did what he could to keep his terror in check.

"What can we do, sir?" In the corner of his mind he'd prayed that there may have been some miraculous, hidden solution he'd simply failed to see. It was already obvious though as to what the Marshal's answer would be.

"We can clear a path... for the Lady..!"

Pentecost wanted to detonate the payload.

With Gipsy crippled and a devastating two way attack imminent, it was the only viable option they had left. The younger man tore off his helmet and threw it carelessly to the ground, blue eyes meeting with Stacker's- devoid of hesitation.

"Well, my father always said... He said if you have a shot then you take it..! So let's do this."

Had his drivesuit not been hooked up to the Connpod's intricate wiring then, Chuck would have given his commanding officer a proper salute.

"It was a pleasure, sir."

He was afraid. More-so than he'd ever been in his entire life. Up until then, Chuck Hansen's days had consisted solely of being revered as a Mark 5 Jaeger pilot- held up on a pedestal by not only the people around him, but by the entire world. Doing what he wanted, _when_ he wanted to because of it. Killing monsters and saving the world was all he'd ever known. He'd been young; reckless. Cocky. And perhaps at times, he'd even done things for the wrong reasons- far from immune to the high that came with world-renowned fame.

But in the end, Chuck knew what was important. And that seeing this through until the end held more meaning than his life ever would.

Reaching up, he used a gloved hand to carefully flip a series of switches on the main control panel. Stacker did the same on his end, until there was only one switch left to press.

They always said in movies and books that your life flashed before your eyes the moment before it ended.. But Chuck knew now that that wasn't true. At least not for him. Despite all of his fame and his pride... he honestly felt that there wasn't much worth remembering. He thought of his mother; that last morning he'd seen her in 2014. His father. All of the things he had bared to him in the Drift but never bothered to say aloud. Chuck had spent so long feeling bitter, and hateful. _Years_. And deep down, he wondered if his dad could ever forgive him for it.

_And then- there was_...

**'**_**I love you...**_**'**

_Jaz..._

She'd only said it to him once... but Chuck had replayed those three simple words over and over again in his head every day since. It had kept him going, in a way... He still hated her for leaving him. She'd broken his heart. But at least now, he could go out knowing that he'd still had a heart _to _break inside of him all along. Because more than anything, Chuck found that he hated himself. For never telling her how much she'd meant to him..._ or that he loved her too_.

_'Sorry that I won't be able to see you again, Becket.'_

His index finger lingered over the control panel as the bomb on Striker Eureka's back whirred to life, armed and waiting.

_'All of this, though- it'll all be over soon.'_

Trembling, Chuck gave a small nod to Stacker and silently pressed that final switch.

_He knew he was doing the right thing_.

* * *

_**01 / 1 4 / 2 0 2 5**_

No one really knew who she was there. Who she'd _been_.

And that was something that was just fine with Jazmine Becket. People didn't get curious or ask questions that way- and that made things a lot less complicated for her. A number of civilians seemed to have this overly-romanticized vision regarding Jaegers and their pilots, or getting to work within the PPDC alongside of them. But Jazmine could attest otherwise. Once the rose-coloured glasses came off, there was absolutely nothing glorious about never knowing when you might die.

_Or who you might lose._

After her discharge, it had been arranged for her to be sent back to the States 500 some miles inland. Somewhere in the midwest where she'd been given a position as a service and repair tech in a local hospital. Supplies weren't unlimited by any means, but they were far more plentiful there than if she'd been put to work as a laborer on the coast. '_Nice severance package..._' Jazmine had mused dryly. Pentecost might have thrown her to the wolves in Hong Kong, but he'd at least seen to it that in the aftermath, she was taken care of.

A nurse at the hospital had examined Jazmine as per standard procedure a day or so after her arrival. Off and on she'd been feeling sick to her stomach the past several weeks, even before leaving the Shatterdome. She'd easily shrugged it off, dismissing it as a simple stomach bug that she would eventually bounce back from. The results of the exam however had shown Jazmine to be about seven weeks pregnant- which more than accounted for the recurring nausea. She had... _he_ had always done his best to be careful. Jazmine could only recall one instance where that wasn't the case. The last time they'd been together. Seven weeks though... The timing didn't add up, but they had never used any sort of protection- and the large black "X" on the paper she'd been reading was quite real.

She was young; _very_ young. Nowhere near ready to be a mother. The hospital staff had asked what she wanted to do, assuring her that it was still fairly easy to terminate such an early pregnancy. It could have just been out of blind, girlish sentiment, but for whatever reason, Jazmine had resolved to leave it be.

Then came the sharp pains... and a ridiculous amount of blood in the days to follow. On January 12th, the ultrasound had shown nothing. The fetus was gone- as if none of it had ever even happened.

She had miscarried.

Jazmine wasn't... exactly sure how she should feel about any of it. _Alone_? _Lost..._? Like another small part of her had been involuntarily torn away. It all would have been natural. Ultimately though, she simply tried not to feel anything. Instead she'd been left indifferent and numb. Besides- losing things was something she should have grown accustomed to by now.

The sound of someone running down the stretch of the hall had reached her ears, slicing through the peaceful lull like a knife. Jazmine had been sitting alone, as she normally preferred to, halfheartedly watching a daytime television program. Clearly unsuspecting of any potential excitement. That's when the equally frenzied shouts had joined the frantic footfalls... and there was no mistaking as to what those shouts had been for.

The Breach was sealed. _And the war was finally over_.

Jazmine's head snapped around to face the direction that the voices had been emanating from, despite the fact that she couldn't actually see anyone. _Was this- happening_? Standing hastily, she seized the remote control and tuned the television to the nearest news station.

It had taken about a day for the information to be formally released and to spread that far inland. Not many people on the coastlines had personal telephones anymore- let alone televisions. The screen cut to a visual of an immaculately dressed Herc Hansen standing in front of a podium, making an official statement regarding the events that had transpired one day prior on behalf of the PPDC.

The youngest Becket sibling's eyes settled upon the sling that was cradling Herc's arm.

_A broken arm_. If Herc had injured himself before Pitfall, he would have been physically _incapable _of operating Striker Eureka. There had been no other battle-ready rangers available at the Shatterdome either.. leading her to believe that Pentecost must have taken up arms in his stead as the bomb _needed _to be delivered at any cost. But it wasn't Pentecost who was making this announcement, as it should have been. It was Herc. _Marshal _Hercules Hansen.

_Did that mean-_

Two photos had flashed across the screen then, before she could finish dissecting whatever may have been playing out in her mind. One was of Stacker Pentecost. And the other was...

_"-K.I.A. delivering the nuclear device during Operation Pitfall-"_

_. . ._

_God, no..._

The newscaster continued to drone on, but Jazmine could only stare. Blankly. She'd hardly even noticed when the remote slipped from her fingers and clattered noisily against the floor. Something inside of her twisted uncomfortably then. It hurt- and she felt like she might become physically ill. Or at least she would have had she been able to function properly at that very moment.

"Jazmine..!" A shrill, female voice had vanquished the terrible silence that had threatened to consume her and the head of a familiar hospital employee popped through the slight opening in the door. "Jazmine! Did you hear? They finally closed the Breach!"

"Oh- yeah, I did. Just now. I'm just glad that it's over." Turning to face the person in question, Jazmine feigned a smile while forcing her words out as amicably as she could. It seemed to suffice for the other girl though, who had probably written her off as being emotional about the situation as some people were bound to be. She'd simply flashed an excited grin and then exited as quickly as she had appeared, looking for someone else to spread the news to no doubt.

Left standing alone, Jazmine tried to exhale, though she'd found difficulty in even such a simple task. She would get to see her brother again soon- who was evidently a war hero now- and maybe things could return to normal at last. Not just for her, but for _everyone_. This moment was everything Jazmine had worked, no- _fought _for, tirelessly during the last six years. It should have been a joyous occasion- knowing that all of her blood, sweat and tears had finally come to fruition. And yet, it wasn't anything like she'd imagined it would be.

Part of her wanted to let her mind dwell on the 'what if's' and thoughts of how things could have been had it all gone differently. But none of that really mattered, because it wasn't going to change anything.. and it wouldn't bring him back to her. Speculation was only a flimsy device that she'd hoped to find some sort of shallow solace in. But unlike most people who had been ensnared by grief, she could identify that.

How was it that life could grant her such a wonderful thing? And then snatch it away so quickly and thoughtlessly..? None of it was fair- but life seldom was.

Ever since she was a young girl Jazmine had been waiting patiently. For a life that didn't belong to the military, or the war, or anyone else. One that was _hers_. While she hadn't always agreed with her superior officers, Jazmine had followed orders; been a good soldier. Not once had she complained about her duties. And after so long, this opportunity she'd been wishing for had finally come knocking, merely waiting for her to grasp it within her hands.

Her dream though..

_It was a little different now_.

Finally moving from where she'd been poised in the center of the room, Jazmine wandered over to the window timidly, hesitating before she drew the blinds. The midday sun poured into the room and filled it with a strange but not unwelcome type of warmth. Comforting... _almost_. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but the American girl did not shy away. She merely gazed up into the clear blue of the sky as the daylight played over her pale skin, offering it a balmy sort of glow. Jazmine looked to the horizon and dared to spend a few more moments lost in contemplation before closing her eyes.

_She remembered the way he had said her name. The way he'd held her- comforted her_. How he'd shown her this- piece of himself that even _he_ had barely been aware he possessed. _And how she'd, in turn, come to care for him_.. Chuck had given his life so that she might be able to have her own... and she knew that he wouldn't have wanted her to live it like this, eternally mourning him. It was true that Jazmine Becket had lost nearly everything dear to her... but the days she'd spent with him- they were her treasured memories. That was something that no one could _ever _rob her of. He had been the first person that she had ever uttered _**those **_words to. And even if he hadn't said it aloud, Jazmine found herself silently trusting that he'd felt the same.

No.

She _knew _he had.

A slight smile wedged itself between the delicate trails of tears that at some point had started cascading down her cheeks. Her eyes were open then though.

And filled with an unmistakable determination.

"For _you_."

It was the first day of the rest of her life.

.

.

_"My body is like a lightning rod  
__Capsize me and douse me in your bay  
__A shiver of want- always  
__When you are on the tip of my tongue  
__In the back of your parked car, I could build a fort  
__And play all day, between your lips_

_Let's stay here forever..."_


End file.
